|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 11:18 am
She left on short notice, with no indication of when she might return.
Shale might've taken her leaving as sudden vacancy, but she mentioned a measure of obligation in training him proper for the Negaverse cause. Shale knew she would return. In the interim, the entirety of the small apartment was subject to his whims and natural living tendencies, so Shale spent a painstaking amount of time unplugging unnecessary electronics and plucking the batteries from any and all smoke alarms that he could find. Furniture found mild rearrangements to account for more workout room, as the apartment lacked access to the outdoors beyond a rusty fire escape through Porsha's bedroom window.
That pitiful strip of grating, however, was newly decorated with a yoga mat to cushion bare feet.
For all his alterations to the inside of the apartment, from hanging his hunting bow on the wall to sectioning off a portion of the counter for bones and jars and half-burnt sticks, Shale spent more time outside or on the fire escape that he would in the confines of such a sunless space. The apartment felt quiet, but without wildlife beyond the lone one-eyed cat that haunted the abode. While it continually meowed at him, he fed it on occasion due to his lack of detection for the cat's natural fare.
Most often, Shale slept in Porsha's vacated bed, which involved further furniture meandering to angle the bulk of the bed in front of the window. Any comforter or quilts were forsaken for a pile of blankets which he could kick off at leisure, and rarer still the cat came to sleep alongside him.
The dishwasher remained off for the full week and a half thus far that Porsha remained absent, as Shale far preferred to hand wash his dishes. Some still sat upside-down on a used, ratty cloth that looked as though it were white at some early time in its life. There, the feline often leapt to the counter to inspect his work. Shale glanced toward the creature while he finished up the last dish, rinsing it off in lukewarm water before adding it to the last remaining space on the rag. Are you looking for food? There's nothing to eat here. Be patient, and I will find you food.
After toweling his hands dry on the rag tied to the front of the oven, Shale claimed the compound bow from the wall and brought it to the couch where he dropped next to it. In the end table sat a tube of wax that he removed abruptly, twisting out the last of it for use on the string. He stole away a thick glob with one finger, rubbing it between digits before he started to apply it to the intertwining strings that lined both cams. The feline joined him without prompt, and threatened to climb atop his lap, which he realized remained sorely unprotected to sharp claws when only wearing underwear designed for mobility. A touch of the idler cam to the cat's chest discouraged it for a second, but that intent persisted.
I'm not going to get dressed just to let you lay on me, cat. You have pillows and heat registers to occupy for comfort.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 3:31 pm
Travel had been a luxury Porsha had never been lucky enough to experience for the whole of her youth. It wasn't until the previous year, when a few scouts had seen her fighting and invited her to participate in an MMA world tour, that she'd ever left the familiar confines of the city. It had been a novelty, something new and exciting, something different. So many places, cultures, countries, and not one was like the last. It had been amazing, at the time. Now travel wasn't new, it was something she was required to do periodically to promote the sport, and herself. No longer a novelty, it was starting to become a chore. So it was a relief when the plane had touched down at the airport on the edge of the city. Destiny City was ******** up, it was full of conflict and war, but it was still her home. She'd tried to cut ties once, it hadn't worked. The gitl no longer fought it. It was as she was walking up the stairs to the fourth floor that she wondered if she'd find her apartment in one piece. Or even if her new roommate was still there. Probably. There weren't many places Shale had to go. Keys rattled in the door a moment before it entered, and the sight that met her as she stepped in was enough to have her pausing just past the threshold. Clean, but different. He'd moved her furniture, there were smoke detectors laying on her counter along with miscellaneous odds and ends, the lights on her electronics were off. Lips pursed, she brought her attention back around to Shale where he sat beside the coffee table, trying and failing to keep Lenore from his lap. "Honey, I'm home." The cat, upon hearing her owners voice, abandoned the man and came trotting over to drag her sides along Porsha's shins. "Hallo Shatzie," she cooed down, scooping the cat up as she walked in and closed the door with her foot. The bag strung over her shoulder was dropped on the carpet beside the tv stand, and now she'd notice absence of plugs in the outlets. "Dare I ask?" She didn't mind, but she was curious. Silver eyes came to rest on him, noticed what he was(or rather wasn't) wearing, and slow, deliberate grin slid along dark painted lips as she crossed over to flop down on the couch behind him, cat still cradled in her arms.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 7:57 pm
Shale's attention immediately migrated to the door, and during that brief lapse, the persistent feline managed to plant her paws firmly on his thighs. Initially it mattered little but once Porsha came through and announced her return in an unexpected manner, the cat dismounted and dug her claws straight into the exposed flesh. While he winced, most of the fresh scratches didn't bleed.Afterward he drew one leg beneath the steep arch of another while the cam of his bow rested against his hip.
Shale followed her curiosity to the number of appliances sitting absent and powerless. Most lacked even a clock display, and the few that retained power sat at the outskirts of the apartment more than any easily accessible location. "I'm used to darkness when I sleep," he answered back deliberately. "And some of these appliances put out a lot of noise, even when off." A gesture toward the TV with the end of his bow offered a heavy hint.
He intended to explain the new additions to the house when Porsha simply grinned at him in an uncharacteristic manner and dropped to the couch with her cat, which left him watching her quizzically through one of the holes in the cam. "What?" He asked, unsure of any causes to such a deliberate change of pace. Was something I said funny? Does she have good news? I can't even begin to guess. I am missing something here.
Instead he slowly shifted back to his earlier explanations while he massaged the rest of the wax through his bowstring. "The bones and minutia on the counter are important for personal reasons. I didn't change much else. Mostly furniture movement and the appliances. I needed the space." Shale tested the string by pulling it taut to its letoff point and slowly allowing the string to return to its standard position. He hadn't detected any further maintenance issues. "I can move them back to their original locations." At least he had the foresight to mark out the corners of their dimensions on the floor before moving.
"What had you leaving on short notice?" Shale wondered if these incidences cropped up often, and if he would spend the majority of his time living in Destiny City as the sole occupant beyond one persistent feline.
"Oh, and your cat won't go outside."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 6:54 pm
Right, of course. How could she have not realized that? She shot him a side long look through narrowed eyes as Lenore buttered her head up under the girl's chin, purring furiously. "Uh huh." Maybe she was just used to it, bot Po had never heard her appliances making noise while not in use. Granted, she lived in a city, grew up among said electrical devices, and was probably desensitized to whatever electric hum they might have thrown off while idle. Or Shale was crazy. "They can't all stay unplugged," she informed him mildly, though words and tone implied she would not be insisting they all be returned to their previous states and positions. She wasn't a dictator, and there were things that just did not get used all that often. Others, like the microwave, were another story. His quizzical 'what', earned him a roll of silver eyes, but she didn't bother explaining. Instead she rolled, the cat curling up in the curve of her body, and dropped her head onto his shoulder so she could watch what he was doing with the bow. Likely it made things harder for him, but she shifted helpfully as the bow came up for a test draw before settling again as his arms lowered. "Do they have to stay on the counter?" She didn't mind him having them, but the counter wasn't all that spacious to begin with. Her lips pursed as she rolled her eyes to glance in that direction. "I don't mind if you move things, just as long as you put them back when you're done. Or make a convincing case as to why they should stay in their new locations." Po wasn't especially attached to the layout, persay, but it worked, and it was familiar. "I was at a mixed martial arts conference and qualifier match for some tournament in the spring." A beat, warm fingers traveling absently along the back of his neck beneath the fall of unruly hair. "What do you mean my cat won't go outside? She's not supposed to go outside." Suspicion crawled into her tone as she lifted her head enough to eye the man from inches away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 7:48 pm
"They don't have to," he responded while he tooled with the sight. "I left the necessities. Their plugs are not easily accessible. Your television hums, though - loudly." A half-turn of the screw adjusted the position of one of the optical fibers, which would require practice shots to dial in. However, if Porsha objected to furniture movement and appliances being unplugged, causing permanent damage to the walls was quite out of the question. Instead he retired the bow to his lap and carefully ignored the constant presence on his shoulder.
A thin chunk of hair drifted from behind one ear and teased across his chest. He considered her words more carefully to dismiss it, but the trails of fingers along his neck elicited goosebumps that he could not suppress. "They don't have to stay on the counter. The bones can go in a cupboard, or an end table, or anywhere beyond the trash. Blackberry paste I've commonly seen sold as jam, so your pantry would be fine. The rest..." He shrugged, and it brought to mind the hair that now danced along the upward motion.
The convincing case portion sounded promising, but lay far outside his usual boundaries. An argument over positioning lay right in Slate's courtyard, but not his - it was far easier to capitulate to another's demands over the grounds they dwelled in. "It is easier to exercise with more useable space," he offered as a quick counterpoint to support the movements, but he still rose and entrusted his bow to the cushion he previously occupied. Padding toward the coffee table that now sat against the wall, he commenced moving the furniture back into position via the tape lines he left on the floor. Most of the objects moved weighed meager amounts, but the bed might require the brunt of his strength. For now, the common room. The bedroom will wait.
"That explains the injuries." A tournament? I do not understand the entertainment value behind watching others fight in staged occasions. There comes no easily discernible benefit from it. Not unless Porsha is capable of picking up new techniques from opposition...
With the coffee table back in position, he sat upon it for a moment while he took stock of the many items moved to the outskirts of the room. "Cats are outdoor creatures. I left the window open for her. She never went." Not supposed to? Since when were cats bred to leave a benign life inside these walls? They are hunters, just as any carnivore. Why limit them so? 'Companionship' seems a stilted trade in favor of the owner over the beast.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:05 pm
That was news to Porsha. She blinked, head moving against his shoulder so she could stare at the tv with both brows raised. "Does it really? I've never heard it." Of course, she hardly heard the cacophony going on in the streets below their windows anymore. It was all just background noise to her, things that she'd long sense noticing. Perhaps the hum of the tv, or any electronic for that matter, just didn't register for her anymore. With a thoughtful hum, she slid her nails across the shoulder not currently being used as a pillow. "Does it bother you? We can keep it unplugged when it's not being used." Goosebumps beneath her fingers made her smile, self satisfied, and that slow drift of painted nails returned to the base of his neck, sliding up through thick hair and against his scalp. She'd noticed quickly how very little he seemed to respond to her, and she found it intriguing, a personal challenge. It meant the casual physical attention she gave him had taken on a steady increase in frequency and level. "You can put them wherever works best, I don't mind." So long as they didn't have to stay on the counter. She needed that space, and working around odds and ends would have been a challenge. He moved, and she had to catch herself before she slid off the couch, giving a soft grunt of protest before rolling onto her back, half lidded gaze following him as he went for the coffee table and pulled it back into it's usual place. "You know, you can always come down to the gym to exercise. They have lots of room there, and all the equipment you could want." No membership required, not if she vouched for him. An amused sound followed the mention of injuries. There were bruises all about her person in varying stages of healing. "It does, but you should see the other guy." Whatever lingering remnants of her smile faded as she looked up at him. " My cat is not an outdoor creature. She's domesticated." It was relief to hear Lenore hadn't taken the invitation of the open window, but the connotations attached had her wondering what sort of care the cat received while she was gone. "Did you feed her while I was gone?" Even as she asked she had to assume he had, or else that cat would have been howling for food rather than working to make sure every inch of Po's face and hands had been recovered in the cat's scent. Headbutting and rubbing as if her very life depended on it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:01 pm
"I would have to pay for it, and as you are aware, I haven't found a... job." The phrase itself felt so odd, given that he was raised to believe jobs were closer to vocations than a simple lease of time for a set period. Sitting idle for so long felt blasphemous, even if he kept up with his routine exercise. Porsha provided all the clothing and food he could need, which left nothing but wants that he wasn't familiar with in a place like this. How could one sit and enjoy the woods on a sunny afternoon, heat warming the bones, when none existed in the heart of a metropolis?
The process of returning the room to its former look wasn't terribly long, and Shale finished the task in a handful more minutes. He leaned against the end table, hands still hooked under its surface, while he considered a better location for the bones and other paraphernalia he reacquired and held onto so emphatically. Space is a premium in here. I've seen boxes people mount on the walls. Shadowboxes? Those should work. While not welcoming decorum, they look like they should have a story behind them. It saves space, she gets her counter back. I know where they are at all times, so long as her cat does not see value in playing with the skulls. I'll look into how to build them tomorrow.
The question concerning her cat did not rouse his attention; Shale remained at the end table, a healthy span of couch arm between he and Porsha, while he stared idly at the far wall.
"Yes, I fed her. She never hunted, so when she told me she was hungry, I fed her what was on hand. She ate well, for a cat, while you were gone." Real meat instead of the little brown pebbles you used to pour into her bowl that left that rank stench. Kibble is an asinine concoction. "Though I don't know why you would want to teach a hunter not to hunt. It seems counterproductive for the cat, and more work for you. Now she depends on others to feed her, where she used to depend on herself. There were no real 'pet cats' where I am from for that reason - some strays stuck around, but we only fed them on special occasions."
Shale caught himself before he started in on the details behind those occasions, and instead changed the subject. "The day is not yet old. Buck will be moving now, but if we get there before evening it will be easiest to bring home venison. Pheasant is out of the question; they've moved on since feeding. Too early and we can spend some time bowfishing. Are you interested in the hunt, Porsha? You told me before that you were a hunter." Even if you haven't proven your statement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:12 pm
"You would not," she corrected mildly, voice a little muffled as she lay a kiss between Lenore's ears. "I work there, you can go anytime you want free of charge." It didn't always work that way for employees and guests, but it would for Porsha, because the girl had been working there for years, and now that she was in the league she brought in more business, made the gym money. She could do anything, ask for anything, and they would eagerly provide. It was not a power she abused, but if Shale could benefit from having more space and actual equipment at his disposal, she was happy to make the arrangements for him. "You would have unlimited guest privileges," she lifted her gaze to him, watching him move her furniture back where it all belonged. "If you wanted, that is." She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about him having feed her cat table scraps. Admittedly, whatever Shale ate was high quality, so it was certainly not a concern for the animal's health, but she had to wonder if all the gourmet cuisine she'd gotten over the last week and half had spoiled her. By morning she'd know, if the nightly quarter cup of food was still in the bowl in the morning. "She's a spoiled house pet, a companion." Sitting up, she spilled the cat onto the couch beside her only to have it crawl up onto her thighs, angling a head but into her chin. "I know that's weird for you, but it's just how it is, alright?" This wasn't the world he was used to, but the one she'd dragged him into. He might have come willingly, to an extent, but he hadn't really known what else would come with the power she'd offered him. It was a culture shock, and she wasn't unsympathetic to his frustrations. And perhaps that was why, despite feeling jet lagged and worn from a full day of airports and traveling, she found herself nudging Lenore off her lap so she could rise to her feet, moving around behind him with a brush of fingers along his back. "If you let me have a cup of coffee we can go." No promises that she will be anything on this trip but quiet company, but she would watch, and she could learn, and it would make him happy. After two weeks cooped up in the city, the poor guy needed a break. Her coffee maker was a sleek little solo cup, and it only took a few minutes to brew. While it worked, she turned to prop her elbows on the counter, leaning back against the edge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:40 pm
Being able to attend a gym opened a host of opportunities, as Shale had never once set foot inside one, but witnessed through wide windows the surfeit of workout equipment housed within. Most set to work vigorously, mostly on their own, which suggested a lack of interaction during moments of great concentration. Some wore earbuds to block out the noise, or listen to whatever suited their fancy. And to utilize what he needed while maintaining solitude was too great a promise to pass up out of expected cultural bashfulness. "If you're offering, I would be a fool to turn it down." Having the space alone rendered the decision worthwhile.
Shale watched her over his shoulder for a long moment while the cat fought desperately for her attention. Afterward he started toward Porsha's bedroom, where he dug through some dresser drawers to return with legitimate clothing. "I don't understand it. If you need companionship, do you not seek out other people? Animals are certainly honest, but are your own people so untrustworthy that you would prefer beast over man? They lack the faculties for higher thinking." Though it seems most people here do, too.
Stepping into his pants, he cast the cat a glance. She seemed all too content to follow Porsha around and continue marking her, which Porsha showed no signs of minding. I will never understand it. When this creature so thoroughly depends on you, why do you let it mark you as its own? What mixed dominance there is between you.
The cat left his bow well enough alone, as did Porsha, so it was retrieved and slung over his shoulder in traditional fashion. Carbon fiber arrows were loaded into a quiver that hooked easily enough to the rim of his pants with minimal noise while walking. The release came afterward, strapped to his firing hand where the mechanism hung uselessly from his wrist. He approached the counters and rifled drawers and the knife block for a knife suitable to skinning, but found that the ones she kept were not of the high quality he was hoping for. Instead he settled for a couple knives that would suffice in a pinch, and crossed behind her to snatch a small jar of blackberry paste off the counter.
He knew standing nearby seemed to elicit soft touches often, but with clothes on his back now, the sensations were tolerable.
"Whenever you're ready."Beejoux could fin it on the teleport since change of venue
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:06 pm
She would talk to the boss man the next time she was there, two days from now, and Shale would be able to come and go as he pleased during business hours. Of course, if he wanted to go in after the place had closed, it wasn't as if Porsha didn't have a key, and didn't often let herself in at night already. He would have plenty of options now that would require a lot less furniture moving. When the coffee was finished Porsha grabbed one of her travel mugs from the cupboard and filled it, then helped herself to cream and sugar as Shale wandered down the hall towards the bedroom. "Why can't I enjoy the company of both?" To her this was all normal enough. She'd never had a pet of her own grander than a carnival goldfish before Lenore, but plenty of other people did. He returned with pants, and she watched him step into them before dropping her gaze as she took a sip of her coffee. It was hot, sweet, and mild, more dessert than anything else at this point, but that was just how she liked it. A stray drop was licked off her lip as he headed towards her to search the drawers, and she grinned at him as she flicked his arm with her fingers, teasing. "I sought you out, didn't I?" The Negaverse needed soldiers, of course, but but she hadn't needed to search far and wide as she had. There were any number of humans wandering the streets that would have made excellent cannon fodder for the war, but Porsha had chosen him. Wild, untamed, and unlike anything she had ever come across before, the moment she'd seen him she meant to take him. He seemed eager to be on their way, so Po relented, setting her mug down only long enough to grab a hoodie from the hook on the wall near the door, then she reclaimed her drank and slip up behind him. Hand on his hip, maybe he'd feel the rush of power as she drew on it, wrapped it around herself, then used it to transport them away from the apartment and somewhere else. Where the sky shone in silver brilliance from moon and stars, and only the clean scents and sounds of nature met their senses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
